Glitter Text

You can use this tutorial with any version of PSP. Pictures shown are from PSP 9. You can download a trial version of PSP 9 at http://www.jasc.com

You also need Animation Shop, which is part of PSP when you buy it. You can also get a trial copy at Jasc. Click on "trial downloads" to find it.

What are we making? This!

First, you need some glitter. I found a whole bunch at Design by Aylana. If you're looking for even more, try a link from Da Brat's list.

Don't worry that the glitter is sparkling. Just right click and copy the picture to, say, "My Documents/My Pictures/Obsessions/Glitter" like me.

For this tutorial, feel free to use the glitter below. Simply right click and copy it to your hard drive. This will save all the glitter panels to your drive.

*velvet embers-green from Aylana, thanks!*

Okay. Open PSP. Choose: FILE and JASC SOFTWARE PRODUCTS. You are going to open JASC ANIMATION SHOP. (You can also just open it alone.)

Open the glitter file in Animation Shop ONLY. In this case, "ember-09.gif". You will now see all the frame that make the glitter move and sparkle. Some glitters have a lot of frames, some have only two. Our glitter has 4 frames.

Now, you can do TWO different things here. It depends on how often you suppose you'll use the glitter.

METHOD ONE: For a permanent copy of each of the frames, click and highlight ONE of the panels. There will be a blue and red circle around the one you have selected. (see above) RIGHT CLICK and choose "SAVE FRAME AS". Choose a name (gember1.gif, gember2.gif, etc.) and save the new files somewhere you can find them.

METHOD TWO: For a temporary copy, RIGHT CLICK and choose COPY. Once I discovered I could do this, I started using it all the time. Since I like to choose different glitters every time I create something. 

Now, we open these panels in PSP.

If you used METHOD ONE, open each individual glitter frame in PSP.

If you used METHOD TWO, simply paste the frame into PSP.

There MUST be more than ONE GLITTER frame. There should be at least two, if not more than that. For our example, there should be five frames now in PSP, waiting for you to use. Make sure all the frames are open at this time, sitting on your PSP desktop.

Open a new document.  A good one for font work is 500x200. If you plan to use the document for signing emails, or putting on "any" background, be sure you choose TRANSPARENT. For this tutorial, you need a TRANSPARENT background, 500x200.

Fill Method #1

This method is a little complex, but gives wonderful results. For a little simpler one, try 'Fill Method #2'

1. Click on the FILL button and change it from solid color to PATTERN.

That's the circle of dots, if you don't already know. If you're having trouble getting to this box, just hold your mouse down a little longer on the color. Release the mouse when you've chosen the PATTERN feature.

2. A bizarre pattern is now in the FILL area. CLICK IT.

This box will now open. We're going to change the "leopard" pattern to glitter by clicking on that  and scrolling UP until we see our glitter. 

Basically, any picture or pattern currently on your desktop becomes a 'pattern' you can choose. (This is true in regular fill/color patterns as well as for text ones.) Chose the first picture in this list, in my case "image 2".

3. Switch your materials around so the pattern is on the bottom, and a solid color is on the top. The solid color will be a border for your image, and helps to anchor the text and give it a little edge.

4. Click the TEXT tool. Time to choose a font. You can visit my Using Fonts in PSP page for links and instructions about fonts. 

Write something in the box provided. For this tutorial, I just used my name. Choose any size you like. You can always resize later. Be sure to choose a WIDE font. You are going to FILL this font, so you can't choose something small and thin.

5. CROP the image to where you want it. This is good to get out of the way now.

6. SAVE the image.

In order to save, you must click "merge visible" first.

You can save in any format from .jpg to .gif and back again. Name your file something with a number to correspond with what frame you're working with. This is our first image, so I used 'deoris1'. Go ahead and click save. 

** We are creating a series of frames that we will put together in Animation Shop to create a moving animation. You need more than one frame of your name, just as you needed more than one frame of glitter. For each frame of glitter, you will have one frame for your picture or text. I will have 4 "Deoris" frames when I'm done.**

You'll need to save the images as transparent gif's if you want no solid background. Need to learn how? Try the tutorial!

This helps prevent your text from moving from panel to panel. If you delete that vector and start all over from scratch, you run the risk that your text itself will "bounce" or "shake".

8. Repeat step 2, choosing the SECOND FRAME this time. Watch out! Be sure you're choosing the right frame. "Current Pattern" is what you already have selected, which was "image2". You want "image3" this time. Watch  your text. You should see the pattern change when you get a new one.

9. Repeat step 6 (save). Repeat step 9 (this step). Continue until all frames for your glitter have been used. Remember to save each under a NEW name. "deoris2" etc.

Now we go back to Animation Shop.

Fill Method #2

This method is fairly simple, but can cause 'bouncing' text. Try 'Fill Method #'1' for better results.

Open a new document, click "text" and type in your name. Use a font that is big and open! Outline fonts are great for this method. Convert the text to a raster layer, and feel free to crop now. (All pictures for these steps are shown in fill method 1 steps.)

1. Using your magic wand, select the insides (or all) of the text you created.

2. Choose your glitter and open ALL the panels. (See step #1 at top of page.) 

3. Change your foreground to "pattern". Click the default pattern (a kind of leopard print) so you can change the pattern. Choose the first of your glitter panels.

4. Click the flood fill button and fill your text with the pattern. Fill all the letters. Save this file as either a .gif (try the save as transparent tutorial) or as a .jpg (saving as .jpg will automatically give it a white background!)

5. Undo until all your letters are empty again. Choose your 2nd pattern. Fill all the letters. Save. Repeat until all the glitter panels have been used.

Remember to rename each save with a new name! When you save, it automatically uses the last save name you chose. Try adding a number to the end.

** We are creating a series of frames that we will put together in Animation Shop to create a moving animation. You need more than one frame of your name, just as you needed more than one frame of glitter. For each frame of glitter, you will have one frame for your picture or text. I will have 3 "Fifth House" frames when I'm done. **

Now we go back to Animation Shop.

If you closed it, open Animation shop.

Easiest thing? Use the ANIMATION WIZARD. That's the first button on the toolbar, or FILE and WIZARD.

Follow the Wizard instructions. Choose "Same size as the first image frame", click next. Choose "transparent" if you want no background to appear, click next. Leave defaults, click next. Choose "repeat indefinitely" and change the frame display time to "20" (see note below). 

*Display time: You can check the rate of movement of the original glitter by clicking on a frame, choosing "frame properties" and seeing the rate. Our example moves at a rate of "20". Click "add image" and choose all four of your saved PSP image files.

If you like,  you can now reorder the frames so they appear in the right order. Use "move up" or "move down" to move the frames around. When they're where you think  you'll want them, click next and then finish.

You have an animation!

If you click the "VIEW ANIMATION" button (at the far right edge of the toolbar, or VIEW and ANIMATION) you will see your text move around. 

Play with the speed of the frames by highlighting all the frames (that blue and red square from the top of the page). You can also choose one frame, right click and change the properties of just that frame. I changed all mine to a rate of "5"...I like wild glitter. LOL

Time to save the animation. I know...didn't we just save? We did, in PSP. That saved "static" images that don't move. We want to save your finished animation.

Make sure you have the actual animation selected, not the preview. You won't be able to optimize if you have the preview selected, so you'll know pretty fast if you've got the wrong thing. Choose "File" and "Optimization".

Follow the Wizard defaults to the end. This will compress your file a little so it's not so big. Choose "File" and "Save As" and save your animation.

(result of #1)

(result of #2)

You might not see your animation moving when you add it to pages or blogs until it's been published. It might look flat and not at all sparkly until it's published. This is actually one of the big tricks to this tutorial. Try adding it to your website or blog and seeing if it moves.

I know the next question: How do I use it on the internet?

You'll first need to upload the image to a server. If you only have a Geocities, Bravepages or Angelfire account, don't put it there. None of them allow "hotlinking", and when you go to use the picture,  you'll find it's a little red "x". Instead, find a free picture resource that will hold the image and allow you to link back to it when you want. If you can't find a free place that allows hotlinking, maybe a friend can put it on their web for you.

Now, when you sign a guestbook, just add this HTML code to the bottom of your message:

<img src="http://www.yourwebsite.com/yourimages/yourfile.gif">

And blammo, you signed with a beautiful glitter sig. 

How do I remember that code? Well, I made a NOTEPAD file (.txt file) of my signatures. That way, no matter the occasion, I have all the codes at the ready, including the URL's of my sig's.

*This code will work for inserting pictures of any kind. As long as you have a copy of them on the internet somewhere, and they can be seen, you can use it.

Now that you know to make glitter, you can do more than just text. For example, use glitter as the background "color" in one of your pictures. Or frame your picture with glitter edges. Or, use the "Magic Wand" to change a color to glitter in a picture, like a dress on your dollz, or the present wrapping or bow in a picture with gifts.

Click on Lulu to visit the Tutorial!

Need to ask a question? Have a suggestion or just get confused?

Email me.

 

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